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Assuming you have a strong Internet connection, you can often correct sluggish iPhone behavior with a simple restart or hardware reset. Sometimes, however, apps are to blame for your iPhone’s slowness. To speed up your device, examine the quality and quantity of your apps -- as well as your app usage history, content and settings. Don’t presume you have an iPhone hardware issue until you check out the apps.

Too Many Apps

Like any computer, the more open memory you have available on an iPhone, the better its overall performance. If your iPhone is running slowly and near capacity, delete some of the apps you no longer need or use infrequently. Alternatively, shed some of the content you are carrying within certain apps to free up space and resources. For example, remove outdated books from iBooks, old texts from within Messages, superfluous pictures and albums in Photos, and unneeded tracks, albums and voice memos from the Music app.

Too Many Running Apps

After leaving an app on the home screen, the iPhone saves its state so you can quickly switch back to it if needed. However, some apps -- particularly music apps -- continue to run in the background and consume some of your iPhone’s resources doing so. Depending on your settings, some apps may contact the Internet while in the background or accept notifications. The more apps you have open, the more burdened your iPhone and the greater the chance that it will perform sluggishly. To address this, double-press the “Home” button to swipe through the multitasking display of your running apps. Close each open app by flicking its panel up and off the screen.

Faulty Apps

Occasionally, a poorly designed lethargic app makes its way to your iPhone or an otherwise great app begins to perform slowly and erratically. Delete the bad app and be done with it; you can always download a new and improved version of it later. For the good app gone bad, try force quitting it using your multitasking display and then opening it again. If that doesn’t restore the app’s speed or reliability, delete it and download a fresh copy from the App Store.

Overperforming Apps

You can configure some apps to do less in order to enjoy greater speed and efficiency and extend battery life. For example, reduce the frequency that the Mail app checks for new mail. Tap “Settings,” followed by “Mail, Contacts, Calendars,” and adjust your Fetch New Data settings to as infrequently as possible. In addition, you can manually purge the data that an app automatically tracks or stores. For example, to accelerate browsing in Safari, tap “Settings,” followed by “Safari” and “Clear History” or “Clear Cookies and Data.”

Automatic App Updates

By default, iPhones running iOS7 permit automatic app updates to occur in the background. While convenient, this process utilizes resources that may be better used to support the iPhone in immediate tasks. Consider disabling this feature; tap “Settings,” followed by “iTunes & App Store” and toggle the Updates switch under Automatic Downloads to the off position.

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About the Author

Since 1988, Diana Faustmann has been writing on technology, business and culture. Her articles have appeared in various print publications, corporate websites and authoritative online sites. Faustmann holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of the Philippines.